Australian Montgomery ready for his first season in England

Mark Dunford

Montgomery is playing for Keymer and Hassocks in the East Sussex League

His highest score in 1st Grade cricket is 178

He hit an unbeaten 88 in his first game in England

Australian Jacob montgomery is looking forward to his first season playing cricket in England.

The 21-year-old has joined Keymer and Hassocks for the 2016 season and he is looking forward to challenging his skills in new conditions.

Jacob Montgomery in action in Australia TJYlPgLzNs1BGL1LfPAz

And if his first innings is anything to go by, Montgomery will certainly enjoy his summer in England. He hit an unbeaten 88 in his side’s comprehensive 155 win over Robertsbridge in the Intersport of Lewes Trophy.

The move came about when Montgomery placed his cricket resume on the website ‘Cricketer Exchange’ in early November last year. Over the next month he had discussions with clubs from around the UK and eventually agreed to join Keymer in mid-December.

He said: “I’ve definitely enjoyed my time so far. This is my first season in the UK so I’m looking forward to challenging my skills in different conditions. The people at KHCC have been very welcoming and are a great group of people so I have no doubt I’ll enjoy my time here.”

After his first match in England, the Australian knows what will be the main difference between playing here and playing at home.

Jacob Montgomery in action in Australia Hl-Ic6TNdofoSjlyfP-S

He said: “From my first match last weekend it is quite obvious to me that the wickets will be the main difference. There is a lot more bounce and carry back in Australia so playing on slower wickets is something I will need to adapt my game to.

“I don’t know a lot about the standard to be perfectly honest. As this is the club’s first season in the ESCL I think the whole team is in the dark so to speak. Teams who have been promoted into the county league in the past have performed well so I’m expecting the league to be quite strong.”

But Montgomery hasn’t come here with any specific targets for the season. He said: “I don’t have any specific targets. If I am scoring runs andtaking wickets and helping the team win games then I am happy. Hopefully over the season I will learn new skills that will develop and add to my game.”

Montgomery is currently 1st XI captain of Wallsend District Cricket Club in the Newcastle competition in Australia.

He played his junior cricket in the Newcastle area, which included being selected in NSW schoolboys.

When he was 18, I moved to play in the Canberra competition, where he represented ACT at the national championships from 2012-2014.

Following that he returned to Newcastle to start a civil engineering degree at University of Newcastle.

Montgomery’s highest score in 1st grade is 178.

And his cricketing hero is Ricky Ponting. He said: “I loved his passion, toughness and the way he could change the momentum of a game.”

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